Their slogan says it all: Mes que un club.
While the rest of the footballing world revolves around victories and Cup runs, Barcelona occupy a space raised above the concerns of the bourgeoisie. Cultivated in a Catalonian landscape often subject to political and footballing persecution from the Spanish capital, Barcelona have never been so much a football “club,” as an expression of Catalonian identity.
In Barcelona, the chief concern of the club could never be results. An unrelentingly independent group still antagonizing for political independence, Catalonians have always required their club to divorce themselves from the racket of Spanish football. While success preoccupies clubs like Real Madrid to a disabling effect, Barcelona have always regarded the manner in which they win as their primary burden.
They’re an ideology, a philosophical ideal, a representation of Catalonia, and a perfection of football. The lofted balls, the possession, the mazy runs; it’s all so disturbingly intoxicating. They play football the right way, as an art that legitimizes the millions of people who think about football at every moment. And the team knows it.
Xavi knows that he’s a video game character come to life. Iniesta is fully aware of the fact that Barcelona are unique amongst the world’s football clubs. Players and former coaches alike regularly claim a perversion of the game when opposition teams take the field with negative tactics..
Arrogant? Probably. But absolutely true? Definitely.
Barcelona are the best team in the world. But, they’re so much more. They’re a demonstration of Catalonian identity, a dissident to Madrileno domination, an independent philosophy, and calligraphers of football who deserve their own display in the Prado. Their slogan is undeniable; they are more than a club.
Or at least that’s what I had always thought.
Surreal Football posted a great piece today on how Barcelona are just like any other club, in an economic sense. The article dispels the “supposed” differences between Barcelona and Real Madrid that typically portray Barcelona in a positive light. Just like Madrid, Barcelona are economically self-interested, willing to subvert their principles for their own benefit. Ridiculous transfer fees, Qatari sponsorships, flirtations with China, and an insatiable craving for television revenue put Barcelona on level terms with their antithesis, Madrid.
Barcelona are, as Surreal Football puts it, “as cynically organized as any other big club.” However, the article makes sure to note that they do not sacrifice beauty for success.
What the article misses, is that Barcelona play just as cynically as any other club.
The beautiful game and style they claim to uphold so often gives way to the negative football they publicly decry. Dives, flops, play-acting, stern challenges in the back, and referee harassment betray Barcelona’s claim of individuality and moral superiority. When results hinge on a penalty or an expulsion, Barcelona are just as willing to abandon their philosophy as any other club.
What’s distressing is that Barcelona’s forays into dirty football are largely unnecessary. Their squad is undeniably the best in the world. Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Company have such a feel for one another that games often descend into a mockery due to the ease with which they dominate. But then there are THOSE games. Whether Arsenal or Real Madrid, Barcelona fully immerse themselves into negative game plans in order to gain an advantage. But did they need to? Could Barcelona not have played the “beautiful football” they represent and gotten a result?
This is not to accuse Barcelona of being more guilty than any other club in the dark arts, but rather, that their role as “saviors” of football is largely undeserved. In recent years, a public fascination and adoration with Barcelona has developed to an absurd level chiefly due to the “fact” that Barca play the “right” sort of football. Attacking, possesion-based football, where quality outshines physical strength is understandably applauded. But can we really ignore a significant part of Barcelona’s game in regarding them as the “best” club in football, not for their record or quality of play, but for their style?
More than a club? No. Looking for any advantage over their opponents, whether it subverts their principals or not, makes Barcelona simply, the same as every other club.
For your viewing pleasure: A compilation of Barcelona’s descent into the deep end.
One Comment
Nice piece.